122:7-1-01
Definitions.

(A)
"Amendment" means any change to the terms and
conditions of a tax credit agreement following approval from the
authority.

(B)
"Authority" means the tax credit authority created
pursuant to division (M) of section
122.17 of the Revised
Code.

(C)
"Consumer price index" means the statistic released by
the United States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics. The rate of
the index to be considered by the authority is the United States city average
percent change for all urban consumers.

(D)
"Date of initial
operations" means the beginning of the term of the tax credit, as specified in
the tax credit agreement.

(E)
"Director" means
the director of development of the state of Ohio.

(F)
"Disadvantaged
person" means a resident of Ohio who meets at least one of the following
criteria:

(1)
Is a person who is currently receiving unemployment compensation or has not
held a full-time job for at least the four months immediately preceding the
determination of disadvantaged person status;

(2)
Is certified as
having a disability by the state of Ohio's rehabilitation services commission
or bureau of workers' compensation, or who is determined to be disabled by the
United States social security administration;

(4)
Is a person
whose total gross annual income is less than the annual equivalent of one
hundred fifty per cent of the federal minimum wage, or is part of a household
of two or more persons whose total gross annual income is less than the annual
equivalent of three hundred fifty per cent of the federal minimum wage.

(1)
The proposed project will encompass asset expenditures
that significantly exceed the asset expenditures of similar projects within
that industry sector;

(2)
The proposed project establishes or enhances a
taxpayer's operations within a targeted industry. Targeted industry means an
industry sector that the Ohio department of development has then identified as
a sector whose growth is vital to the economic success of Ohio;

(3)
The
proposed project utilizes a facility that has been vacant for at least twelve
consecutive months immediately preceding the application for the proposed
project;

(4)
For a taxpayer with existing operations at the project
location, the proposed project will result in a growth in the number of
full-time equivalent employees at the project location of at least three
hundred per cent;

(5)
The proposed project establishes a company or division
national/international headquarters location and the taxpayer will employ a
minimum of two-hundred fifty full-time equivalent employees at the project
location; or

(6)
After assessing all of the factors included but not
limited to those listed in this division and in paragraph (C) of rule
122:7-1-06 of the
Administrative Code as well as such other factors regarding the proposed
project as an indication of substantial economic impact, the authority
determines that the proposed project presents an extraordinary opportunity for
the state. Additional consideration will be provided to proposed projects
that:

(a)
Plan
to generate substantial payroll growth in a distressed city or county. Distress
criteria are established by the Ohio department of development and are
published in map format at least twice each year to identify "priority
investment areas".

(b)
Commit to hire and retain a significant percentage of
disadvantaged persons.

(I)
"Fixed-asset
investment" means the dollar amount invested in building, land, machinery and
equipment, including computers, and infrastructure related to the project.
Fixed-asset investment does not include investments in furniture, inventory,
working capital, and other operating expenses.

(J)
"Full-time
equivalent employees" means the quotient obtained by dividing the total number
of hours for which employees were compensated for employment in the project by
two-thousand eighty. If the authority determines that full-time employees in a
particular industry sector normally work fewer than two thousand eighty hours
per year, the authority may reduce the denominator described in the preceding
sentence to the number of hours that correspond to full-time employment in the
relevant industry sector. The calculation of "full-time equivalent employees"
shall exclude any and all hours that are included as part of a tax credit under
section 122.171 of the Revised
Code.

(K)
"Maintain operations" means the continuation of
operations of the taxpayer as described in the tax credit agreement. The tax
credit agreement shall describe the type of work performed, the number of
full-time equivalent employees to be created and retained, the level of
investment, and other details the authority deems appropriate to measure
maintenance of operations.

(L)
"Minority" means
a resident of Ohio who is a member of one of the following groups: Blacks or
African Americans, American Indians, Hispanics or Latinos, and Asians.

(M)
"Payroll" means the aggregate taxable income paid to full-time equivalent
employees at the project location. Payroll does not include employer
contributions to fringe benefits that are provided to employees.

(N)
"Payroll increase factor" means a numerical percentage determined by the
authority to represent retained payroll growth, and which shall be applied to
adjust annually "baseline income tax revenue," as defined in division (A)(2) of
section 122.17 of the Revised Code. The
payroll increase factor shall be a minimum of one. The payroll increase factor
shall be multiplied by the current taxable year's baseline income tax revenue
to equal the next taxable year's baseline income tax revenue for each year
during the term of the tax credit.

(O)
"Post-term
reporting period" means the time period a taxpayer must report to the authority
and director to verify the maintenance of operations at the project location.
The post-term reporting period begins at the conclusion of the tax credit term
and continues for a minimum of three years as set forth in the tax credit
agreement corresponding to the taxpayer's obligation to maintain operations at
the project location.

(1)
The full-time equivalent employees or employment positions employed by the
taxpayer in a political subdivision in this state other than the political
subdivision in which the project is located are relocated to the project
location and whose positions are not replaced in the first political
subdivision within the same calendar year.

(2)
The full-time
equivalent employees or employment positions employed by the taxpayer at a
location other than the project location within the same political subdivision
as the project location that are relocated to the project location, and whose
positions are not replaced within the same calendar year.

(Q)
"Retail" means operations that include point-of-final-purchase transactions at
a facility open to the consuming public, wherein one party is obligated to pay
the price and the other party is obligated to transfer title to or possession
of the item sold.

(R)
"Substantial number of employment positions" means
individual employees of the taxpayer for which the aggregate annual gross
payroll, excluding amounts paid for fringe benefits, is at least two hundred
thousand dollars. In calculating the "substantial number of employment
positions" threshold, the taxpayer must aggregate the payroll from all
relocated employees under paragraph (B) of rule
122:7-1-09 of the
Administrative Code for each year during the term of the tax credit.

(T)
"Taxable year" means the annual tax reporting period
of the taxpayer prescribed by division (A) of section
5733.031 of the Revised Code
with respect to persons subject to the Ohio corporate franchise tax, and
prescribed by division (M) of section
5747.01 of the Revised Code with
respect to persons subject to individual income tax. With respect to insurance
companies taxable year means the calendar year subject to the franchise tax
return required pursuant to section
5725.18 of the Revised Code, or
subject to the tax required pursuant to section
5729.03 of the Revised
Code.

(U)
"Taxpayer" means a business entity that has entered
into an agreement for a tax credit pursuant to division (D) of section
122.17 of the Revised
Code.

(V)
"Transferred income tax revenue" means the
withholdings attributed to all relocated employees at the project location, if
any.

(W)
"Transferred payroll" means the payroll attributed to
all relocated employees at the project location, if any.